U.S. Immigration Alerts

USCIS Provides Additional Guidance on Valid Passports or Travel Documents for FY2025 H-1B Registrations

On February 2, 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a final rule to improve the H-1B registration selection process and program integrity. As previously announced, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will require registrants to provide valid passport information or valid travel document information for each beneficiary.

Valid Passport or Travel Document

• A valid passport or travel document is required at the registration stage.
• The passport or travel document listed in the registration must correspond to the passport or travel document the beneficiary intends to use to enter the United States, if or when the beneficiary is abroad.
• Each beneficiary must be registered under only one passport or travel document.

Documents that are facially expired but automatically extended

• In rare instances the passport or travel document may be past the expiration date listed on the document (i.e., facially expired) but may have had its validity extended by decree or automatically by the national government or issuing authority that issued the passport or travel document.
• In this case, USCIS would consider those documents to be valid since they were extended by decree or automatically.
• Registrants should enter the expiration date of the passport or travel document based on the extension, rather than the date which appears in the passport itself.

Passport or travel document valid at registration but expired at the time of the H-1B petition filing

• The passport or travel document must be valid at the time of registration.
  If the passport or travel document expires between when a registration is submitted and when the H-1B petition is filed, the petitioner should enter data from the new, currently valid passport or travel document on Page 3, Part 3 of Form I-129, Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker.
• In support of the H-1B petition, the petitioner should provide documentation for both passports or travel documents to establish that the passport or travel document was valid at the time of registration and an explanation as to why there was a change in identifying information.
• For any other extenuating circumstances, the registrant will have an opportunity during the registration process to provide a brief explanation as to why the beneficiary does not have a valid passport or travel document.

For additional details about the registration process, please visit H-1B Electronic Registration Process | USCIS.